Thursday, June 02, 2016

MAHAR'S REIGN...

Attorneys for Rensselaer County agreed to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit against former sheriff Jack Mahar — just two days after a judge issued a ruling that would have allowed a jury to hear a racist remark allegedly uttered by Mahar's successor, Patrick Russo.county's lawyers, John W. Bailey and Crystal Peck, agreed to the settlement in a phone conference Friday with A.J. Bosman, the attorney for Lt. James Karam, a longtime internal affairs officer whose civil case against the county was set to go to trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court before Judge .

Karam's claim is that he suffered ridicule based on his Lebanese heritage.

More from the article:

The settlement was reached two days after D'Agostino issued a May 25 ruling that, among other things, would have allowed jurors to hear evidence that Russo, while undersheriff, once told Karam, who is of Lebanese ancestry, that he "should shave his goatee or he would be put back on the terrorist watch list."

Now, we don't know if Sheriff Russo is a bigot. Who knows the heart of a man? We do know that he said the best thing ever about the statement:

A transcript of a March 16, 2015 deposition of Russo, listed in court papers, showed that Russo did not deny making the "watch list" comment — but denied having any issues with Karam over his ethnicity."I wouldn't be derogatory to him because he's Lebanese because my wife's family is Lebanese," Russo told Bosman. "The best man in my wedding was Lebanese. I have probably as many Lebanese friends as Jim Karam has. So, therefore, I wouldn't be derogatory because of his heritage toward Jimmy.""So the 'watch list' reference was for what reason?" Karam's attorney pressed."Just to maybe lighten the mood up," Russo replied, noting that he had known Karam since he wasa child.

Russo actually pulled out the "Some of my best friends are...." line. Kind of reminds you of the guy who starts a conversation: "Hey, I ain't got nothing against the Jews but...". Given Russo's street cred amongst the regions Lebanese-American community, maybe Russo could have admitted he's just shitty at lightening-up the mood. Or, he could have said, "I'm not a bigot, I'm just kind of a dick."

This settlement comes on the heels of a $3,000,000 award given to former corrections officer Lora Seabury.

In 2013, an administrative law judge with the state Division of Human Rights determined Seabury was harassed by a clique of jail officers known as the "Boys Club" and that top sheriff's officials at the jail engaged in "deliberate inaction" in dealing with the harassment of Seabury.

That award was later bumped up to $3,000,000.

Was Russo considered a top sheriff's official at that time? No idea but it makes you wonder about the man we elected.

Mahar's reign as Rensselaer County Sheriff, and we don't recall that he was ever had a serious challenger, seems to have benefited no one except the plaintiff's bar.

Mahar is a sociopath that tainted that agency's reputation because he ran it in a disgustingly unprofessional way. Pat Russo is nothing like Mahar. Mahar and Troy Chief Tedesco were up each other's republican butts during that time. Real buddies they were, bathing in one another's narcissism. Mahar wanted to rule the world, and Tedesco wanted to give him Troy. Both of them put a lot of lives in danger during that time- both officers and citizens.

8:49 - there was nothing incompetent about the prosecution of that trial. you can't just make up evidence you don't have. that kid trying the case did the absolute best with what he had, which was all pretty circumstantial, including witnesses with their own credibility problems. and yet he connected enough dots to get a conviction which is going to put this guy away for 50 years, if stacked consecutively. so what exactly is your problem with that? I agree that abelove is mess, but don't automatically assume that the ADA's aren't working their asses off every day to put bad people away.

3:04 - there was more than enough evidence to convict of murder. Manslaugter means the defendant meant to hurt the victim but mistakenly killed her. How do you get there when Vega strangled her and set the house on fire. He just happened to be carrying gasoline when they had an argument? Not a terrible verdict, and the result is on the jury not the ADA. But no excuse for Abelove to be "pleased" with a manslaughter conviction in a case like this.

8:17 - that's what we call in the business a "compromise verdict." I think its very likely there was a hold out on the jury who didn't want to convict, and the rest wanted to convict on murder, so they compromised with Man 1. happens all the time. You can't account for crazy people on the jury, or weed them all out in jury selection. My point was that the ADA, who really did an amazing job, shouldn't be lumped in with the crazy decisions made by his boss. We should give credit where it is due, especially when we want ADA's like Andrew Botts to stay in this county, doing great work. Further, this defendant will go away for the rest of his life with consecutive sentencing, so I would be pleased with that outcome.

Troy committee was working to put together the parade. What happened? We been going for years. I saw in the newspaper saying it was going to happen. We got some hope still.we always go and hangout. Not gonna be the same in Troy without it. It's a sad day without "our parade."

@11:22 No, that's not true. Not half-true, or even remotely close to true considering there is no fire department overtime or detail for the Uncle Sam Day parade. Some people, when filled with so much animosity, often have a difficult time discerning between fact and the fiction they create within their own minds.

It's because the parade is run by Republicans and they don't give a shit about Troy. Where's Carmella when she's actually needed? She's on Facebook all day bragging when she puts money in a parking meter but when Troy really needs something done it's crickets. $2500 is BS!

My 4 year old could have gotten a murder conviction if he tried the case. All the other bullshit is unnecessary, he strangled her with his hands. Looking into her eyes as he killed her?! It's an open and shut murder! This loser is not a convicted murderer as he should be. Shameful verdict!

What does your kid batting 1st have to do with the parade? And from my experience, those parents that are coaching just to coach 1 kid don't stay around long! You must have aucked at baseball, you sound bitter about it!

Its about volunteering moron, you bitch about the parade but you do nothing to help the parade committee. They are volunteers, you are obviously one of the coaches who coached their kids so they could get a head because they weren't good enough.